FAR 7.107-6—Solicitation provision.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 7.107-6 tells contracting officers when they must include the solicitation provision at 52.207-6, Solicitation of Offers from Small Business Concerns and Small Business Teaming Arrangements or Joint Ventures (Multiple-Award Contracts). The section is narrowly focused on one trigger: solicitations for multiple-award contracts that are above the agency’s substantial bundling threshold, as referenced in FAR 7.107-4(a). Its purpose is to make sure small business concerns, including small business teaming arrangements and joint ventures, are specifically invited to compete for these larger multiple-award opportunities. In practice, this requirement is part of the government’s broader effort to preserve small business participation even when requirements are consolidated or bundled into larger acquisitions. For contracting officers, it means the provision is not optional when the threshold condition is met; for offerors, it signals that the solicitation should address small business participation opportunities in a multiple-award setting.
Key Rules
Insert required provision
The contracting officer must include FAR 52.207-6 in the solicitation. This is a mandatory solicitation provision, not a discretionary clause, when the rule applies.
Applies to multiple-award contracts
The requirement applies only to solicitations for multiple-award contracts. It does not, by its terms, govern single-award acquisitions.
Threshold is substantial bundling
The provision is required only when the multiple-award contract is above the agency’s substantial bundling threshold, as defined or applied under FAR 7.107-4(a). The contracting officer must determine whether that threshold is exceeded before deciding whether the provision belongs in the solicitation.
Supports small business participation
The provision is intended to solicit offers from small business concerns and from small business teaming arrangements or joint ventures. It is designed to broaden competition and encourage small business participation in larger, bundled requirements.
Responsibilities
Contracting Officer
Determine whether the contemplated multiple-award contract is above the agency’s substantial bundling threshold and, if so, insert FAR 52.207-6 into the solicitation.
Agency
Establish and apply the substantial bundling threshold referenced by the rule and ensure acquisition planning and solicitation review processes identify when the provision is required.
Small Business Concerns, Teaming Arrangements, and Joint Ventures
Review the solicitation and consider competing for the multiple-award opportunity, including as a team or joint venture where appropriate and permitted by the solicitation and applicable small business rules.
Practical Implications
This rule is a solicitation-preparation checkpoint: if the acquisition is a multiple-award contract above the substantial bundling threshold, the provision must be included before release.
A common pitfall is overlooking the threshold analysis or assuming the provision is only needed for set-asides; the trigger here is the size/bundling status of the multiple-award acquisition.
Contracting officers should coordinate with acquisition planning and small business specialists early, because the need for this provision is tied to how the requirement is structured.
For industry, the provision is a signal that the agency is actively seeking small business participation in a larger multiple-award environment, including teaming and joint venture approaches where allowed.
Failure to include the provision when required can create solicitation defects and protest risk, especially where small business participation opportunities are a material part of the acquisition strategy.
Official Regulatory Text
The contracting officer shall insert the provision at 52.207-6 , Solicitation of Offers from Small Business Concerns and Small Business Teaming Arrangements or Joint Ventures (Multiple-Award Contracts), in solicitations for multiple-award contracts above the substantial bundling threshold of the agency (see 7.107-4 (a)).